by Zara Zenia
"So what can I do for you, Carina?"
"Well..." I didn't know how to begin. "As the minister, you oversee a lot of the ethical and political work that takes place within this city."
"That's one way of putting it."
"I'm sorry. We don't really have the same thing back on Earth. I think you are like, a local politician of sorts."
"Think of me as the neighborhood's grandpa."
"I like that!" I beamed. "So... As our grandpa, you have to make sure that everyone is safe, right?"
"Absolutely!"
He ran a hand through his hair and shifted in his seat.
"I have a problem," I began to explain. "In the arena."
"In the arena?" he asked worriedly.
"Yes. An Earth friend of mine is due to fight this weekend but he is weak. He is not trained for this kind of combat. Everyone knows he will die but still, he is not allowed to be taken off the timetable."
"I see."
He sat back in his chair and pressed his fingertips together.
"Of course, I tried to bring this to the attention of the arena managers and owners but they didn't even respond to my messages. Is there anything you can do?"
He raised a single eyebrow.
"What are you expecting me to do?"
"I don't know. Can't you block it, deem him an unfit contestant. Surely there's something."
He thought for a minute and looked up to the ceiling as though greatly amused by the thought. Then he laughed, then laughed some more. After a few seconds, he was doubled over, cackling like a mad man.
"Block it!" he spluttered. "Are you serious? Really? Are you humans really so dumb?"
I stood up and smoothed down my skirt.
"I came here for help. I wasn't expecting to be ridiculed!"
He continued to laugh, his piercing voice grating on my nerves.
"Around here, the Arena is the law, it does what it wants."
The tears began to sting my eyes.
"You know for such an advanced race, you sure are a bunch of heartless imbeciles!"
I stormed out and stomped past reception, the snooty, purple bitch not even looking up as I passed.
The crowd roared all around me as they begged for blood but the rushing of blood in my ears was louder. Marco would be out any moment now. The poor boy… I remembered him when we were small and growing up in the mine. He always thought he was the toughest and stood up to everyone. He always tried his hardest at everything and never took no for an answer. Now it would seem that his boldness was going to lead him to his death.
I pushed my fingernails into the palm of my hands to settle my nerves but it did nothing to take away the butterflies in my stomach or the intense nausea that was flowing through me.
Standing at the front of the arena, with the crowd behind me, I felt as though I was on the forefront of a tidal wave. Looking over my shoulder, I was overcome with the sensation that I wouldn't be able to run away if I wanted to. All I could do was turn around and face the fight. Hopefully, Marco would see me and at least he would know that in his dying moments, he had a friend nearby.
"Stop crying," Gar'zul said in my ear. "It won't stop him from being defeated.”
"You're been so cruel!" I wailed as I pounded a fist into his arm.
He laughed and flicked me off him as though I was an insect.
"You could have saved him, you know?"
"And why would I have done that?"
He pointed out into the arena.
"Anyway, be quiet, the announcer is coming."
A short, fat man in a long, flowing robe walked out into the center of the arena. He walked like a king and acted as though the entire venue and all the people in it were nothing more than his humble servants.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" his voice boomed into the microphone and everyone went instantly silent. "We are gathered here to watch the great Mysterious Marco and Vonad the Great fight on their first ever day at the Arena!"
The crowd cheered, stomped their feet on the ground and raised their fists.
"Marco... Weighing only sixty-seven reigelgrams and standing at three cunar point one, is a human water miner!" he spat and everyone laughed. "Meanwhile Vonad the Great, weighing in at seventy-three reigelgrams and standing a whole cunar taller than Marco hails from Mars, the planet of war and blood."
There was a low rumble across the crowd as they booed and jeered.
"Why is no one taking this seriously?" I cried. "A man is about to die!"
Gar'zul rolled his eyes.
"That is why they come, to watch the grand spectacle that is death."
"You're all despicable."
"Then you are too."
I'd never been angrier, or more petrified. Marco was going to die, I was sure of it.
"Hey!" I waved my hands over my head trying to get his attention.
He was standing in front of the red-skinned Martian as he tried to psych himself up. A long sword hung from his right hand while an ax was gripped tightly in his left. The Martian's weapons matched his and they began circling each other already, eager to begin the fight.
"Steady, guys," the announcer smiled. "The fight will begin in three..."
My stomach lurched
"Two..."
I grabbed onto the railing in front of me, my knuckles turning white.
"One!"
The siren rang and the crowd cheered.
The Martian swung his sword and it chopped into Marco's arm in an instant.
"Marco!" I screamed.
For a split second, he followed my voice. His eyes met mine and despite being in pain, his face lit up at seeing me and he smiled. Lunging forward, he swung his ax, the Martian ducking out of the way just in time.
"Whoa, that was close," Gar'zul said.
Blood was pouring out of Marco's arm but he moved as though he didn't feel a thing. He stepped forward again, swiping the air. This time, the blade connected with Vonad's chest and a ribbon of blood formed across his skin.
"No way!" Gar'zul said shocked. "He actually got the son of a bitch."
Meanwhile, Marco took his opportunity, and while the Martian stumbled backward, he swung his ax one final time and rained a deadly blow down onto his skull. His head split in two and the Martian fell, his body becoming lifeless before it hit the dust. The crowd screamed and jeered. It was the goriest death they had seen in years.
"Marco! You did it!"
He turned round to face me and looked more surprised than I did. Looking down at the corpse in front of him, he looked stunned, as though he barely registered what he'd done. I glanced up at Gar'zul who was quietly seething.
"I bet you never expected that!" I said as I slapped him on the back.
"That little bastard's been practicing more that he let on," he spoke through gritted teeth. "I wonder what else he's been hiding."
Chapter 11
Gar’zul
I left Carina up in the crowd. She was jumping up and down and squealing with glee at seeing Marco win. She was so naive at times. Couldn't she see that he was spurred on to win just so he could win her over?
Venturing down into the pit to prepare myself for my own fight, I stumbled across the figure of the shadow boxer. He was leaping from side to side amongst the darkness as sweat dripped from his body. Looking over at me, he gave me a nod of acknowledgment.
"How's it going buddy? You see that human up there? Crazy fight, eh?"
“I saw it all..."
"You don't sound too happy about him winning."
"I'm not."
"Really? I always like seeing an underdog win."
"Hmm..."
I jogged on the spot for a minute before hitting the floor to do a hundred press-ups.
"An ax through the head," the shadow boxer continued to speak, forcing one fist through the air after another.
"Yeah, like I said, I saw the whole thing."
"It was brutal. I think that Marco's got real potential, you know? Crazy, I would never have expected it
when I first saw him. Thought he would die as soon as he stepped into the arena."
"That's what I thought too," I grunted as I began to feel myself heat up.
No matter how much I tried to concentrate on warming up for the fight, all I could think about was Marco. He should have died out there! My relationship with Carina was betting on it. Still, it was hard to not be impressed by him. He was a naturally skilled fighter and outsmarted the Martian without much effort. Even after he'd been delivered the devastating cut to his arm he still kept fighting, all the while looking over at Carina to make sure she was watching.
Maybe I should have just put an end to it and killed him myself. I could tell Carina he went back to Earth with his winnings. I could say he was sent to fight in another Arena and slice his head off so he could keep his filthy gaze off my woman. I wanted to do it, yet at the same time, I found myself respecting him even though it hurt. He was a good fighter and the shadow boxer was right, he had a potential. He reminded me of myself when I was a young fighter. Chances are he was going places. Which is why I had to kill him before he got more powerful.
"Hey," the shadow boxer said as he jumped from foot to foot. "I reckon that Marco will become champion someday. He has a real fierce look in his eyes like all the best fighters."
"Is that right?" I asked as I stood up.
"I remember seeing that look in your eye the first time I saw you fight," he said.
The heat was rising in me once again, the one that made me angrier and angrier until all I could do was kill to release the tension.
Then the door swung open and Davoth stood in the doorway.
"Gar'zul, it's time for you to make your way upstairs.”
His name was Chainsaw Chagi and he was the fiercest, most terrifying son of a bitch that the universe had ever known. As I stepped into the arena, I saw him beside the announcer, his lips moist and dripping with rabid spittle. I looked into his eyes and there was nothing there. It was like staring into two glass orbs of emptiness that were sunk into a thick, dark blue skull. His face was covered in scars, his mouth twisted up from being beaten so many times. Meanwhile, both eye sockets were broken giving the impression that his head was lopsided. The announcer was shaking just standing next to him and when he saw me walk out, he quickly sounded the siren and scarpered out of our way.
Chagi approached me without hesitation, his heavy feet kicking up dust and cracking the ground as he walked. He was a killing machine, quite literally. After having both his arms amputated after an explosion in the strontium mines of Mnemosyne, he had insisted on getting two chainsaws attached in their place. But these were no ordinary chainsaws. Each blade was lined with twenty double-edged swords, each one able to tear a man apart.
He lunged at me and I fell to the floor just in time, nipping the back of his leg with my sword and cutting through his calf. He let out a roar, and fell backward, his chainsaws still whirring and grinding in the air as he swung them toward me.
Getting back onto his feet, he pounced again, this time catching my ribs with a sword.
"Fuck!" I yelled and in a moment of blinding rage, I threw my ax at him.
It hit him square in the chest, sinking into the solid muscle. He let out a yelp as he clutched himself in agony. Unable to pull the ax free, all he could do was stagger toward me with blood spewing out of his chest and puddling around his feet. He thrust forward again and before I knew it, there was searing heat in my bicep. Looking down, I saw he'd pierced the skin.
"Aaargh!"
With only my sword left, I swung at him. He stepped back, laughing at my futile attempt.
"I'll kill you. I'll fucking kill you!"
He laughed again, his voice so loud it made my ears ring.
"You'll never kill me. I'm invincible."
Annoyed at his arrogance, and enraged that the fight had lasted so long, I put all my strength into a final jump with my sword held high above my head. For a moment, his eyes widened in shock. He raised a chainsaw to block me and the two weapons collided in a hail of sparks. I was losing and I could sense that he was about to overpower me. Over his shoulder, I could see something white moving up and down. It was Carina. Suddenly, it felt as though there were nothing and no one in the arena but her and me. Her voice traveled through the crowd.
"Gar'zul! You can do it!"
Then I was sucked back into the moment, the noise of the chainsaws buzzing beside my head once again. I had to kill him for Carina. With one last swipe, my sword dug into the side of his face as I slashed him hard across his cheek. Blood sprayed out across me. There was so much of it I could taste it, could smell the iron in the viscous, red syrup. He collapsed to the ground, shrieking, sounding more like a wild animal than a human.
The crowd clamored for the final blow that would kill him. For a long while, I stood over his writhing body and watched him roll from side to side in pain.
"Kill, him, kill him, kill him, kill him!"
They cheered and shouted, desperate to see me plow my sword into his head. I looked up at the row of judges on the sidelines. They were leaning in close to one another, visibly arguing about something. A moment later, the announcer was running out with the microphone in front of his face.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Something most unusual is happening."
The crowd went silent.
"It would seem that the judges are reaching a peculiar decision."
The arena was so quiet it was eerie as a hundred thousand people waited with baited breath to hear the word of the little, fat man.
"Chainsaw Chagi..."
He looked down at the wounded creature at his feet with the ax impaled through his chest and his skin opened in a flap across his face.
"The judges have decided," he continued. "He shall live!"
The crowd gasped in unison.
"But he will never fight in the arena again!"
The announcer looked up to me with wide, traumatized eyes.
"The winner is... Gar'zul!"
I raised my fists in the air and basked in the cheers from the crowd as they wafted over me. I was a winner. I always was and I always would be. Running around the edge of the arena, I ran my fingers over every outstretched hand as I passed.
"Gar'zul. Gar'zul. Gar'zul!" The crowd chanted as I embarked on my victory lap.
At last, I reached Carina, who stretched out from the crowd and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"For a second, I thought you were going to die," she cried.
"I don't lose," I said as I kissed her on the cheek. "I never have."
Running back into the center of the arena, I spun in slow circles, eager to wave at every section of the crowd as they cheered. Up high, my face was beaming down from a large screen with the word ‘winner’ flashing up in red.
"I am a winner!" I yelled and beat my chest.
The crowd beat their chests too and yelled back. All the while, Chagi groaned in pain as his blood saturated the dust. He'd never fight again. I'd made sure of that.
Chapter 12
Carina
I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. He was out, again... One of the first things I learned when I moved into his house was that as soon as he won a fight, he'd be out in town getting himself messed up on whatever aliens get messed up on. All I knew was that he'd come home early the next morning smelling foul with red dust all over his fingertips and his eyes so glazed they were practically pointed in opposite directions. Would it have hurt him to invite me out sometime?
He insisted my place was to wait at home for him and keep the house clean. He said I was too nice to go to all his favorite places, said he'd rather I was safe at home than in some drug infested dungeon. But back home, I felt as though I was imprisoned by not only the house but by my thoughts. I wasn't naive, I knew there were loads of women out there that wanted a piece of the prize-fighting gladiator. I'd heard the stories through the grapevine, knew there were loads of them who wanted to be satisfied by him.
To be honest,
I wasn't even sure why I was so jealous at the thought of him with someone else, maybe it was because deep down I was falling for him. After all, he was my entire life. I did everything for him and depended on him for my own survival. I mean, sure, at times he could be real crazy. He could act like a total pig and boss me around, but over the weeks I had started to see a secret side to him, one that was sweet, kind and loving. He liked me and cared for me, I knew that. And no matter how mismatched we were, I cared deeply for him too.
I rolled over and huffed. It was to be another sleepless night not knowing when he was going to come home. Just please be faithful, I thought. Please... I couldn't bear the thought of you with someone else.
Looking at the clock, I saw it was almost morning and I hadn't slept a wink. It was still dark but at any moment, the sun was about to shine and I'd be expected to get up and start cleaning the house from top to bottom again. Yawning, and stretching, I sat up on the edge of the bed and lay a hand on the spot where he was supposed to lay. Couldn't he spend one victorious night with me for a change? Couldn't he celebrate with me?
Boys will be boys, I thought.
Fighting in the arena was a man's game and he had to be with other people who understood him, not fragile, little human women like me who had to watch each fight cowering behind their hands.
The moon shone through the window and illumined his half of the bed. It was the biggest bed I'd ever seen but as I looked to his spot, it was hard to think that I shared it with such a beast. My beast, I thought. The beast I wanted to be in the arms of.
Downstairs, the front door clicked open and footsteps came trotting through the hallway. Gar’zul sounded different, somehow, like his footsteps were lighter.
“Gar!” I called down the stairs.
There was no answer. He must have been really drunk.
“Gar!” I shouted again.
Still, no answer.
“For, God’s sake.”
Pulling on my gown, I walked out onto the landing and looked down over the balcony. The front door was still open a few inches, a frigid breeze drifting into the house.